Former Younique (#Poonique) rep – Anti-MLM coalition blogger

Throwback to When #Poonique Went Viral

There are some events in my Poonique story that didn’t make it into the blog, but have tickled me enough to want to give them their own mini-post.

The tale of how my favourite hashtag was born is one of them. Yes, I’m referring to the the famous #Poonique video by Gracie Dudley.

This is one of many reasons why I wish to adapt my Poonique story into a novella/ebook. There were smaller details and events that I omitted in the chapters, mainly to drive the story forward and to ensure that the most significant events were revealed (the lies, emotional effects, financial impact etc).

In hindsight, I would have liked to have written my tale using my spreadsheet as a focal reference point (in respect of timelines, remembering what the Youniquecustomer kudoswas for that month etc).

That is my next goal – to continue writing anti-MLM articles and provide support to former huns…but also work on a full version of my story for publishing. I would like to find myself a decent editor who will help me on my way. If you enjoy my writing and wish to show your support, consider becoming my Patreon.

Anyway, I would like to recollect on a time back in December 2015 (originally touched upon inChapter 5), when my favourite hashtag was born.

“…I’ve been tagged in a video by a presenter trying to prove how it works and calling me a liar.So I’ve gone one better.THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU SHARPIE YOUR FACE AND USE YOUNIQUE TO COVER IT.You look a massive tool by the end of it!!!!!Twitter @gracieduds#Poonique…”

No doubt, it all began because Gracie was tired of seeing the fucktonne of Younique vs. Sharpie videos on YouTube and Facebook, and decided enough was enough…

Source: YouTube

I also found some delightful stills from other Younique vs. Sharpie videos, which are readily found in the public domain (all you have to do is Google!). Here are some of my favourites below. I’ve tried to hide their identifying features as much as possible; my focus is not on these individuals, it is on the fact this foundation is not all its hyped up to be.

As you can see from her video caption, Gracie was tagged in a foundation demonstration video by a Younique hun, attempting to “show her how it works“. Gracie clearly went one better, and shared her fantastic video with the world – watch ithere.

Gracie drove her point home by satirising the hun-craze of drawing all over their face with Sharpies, and then plastering Younique foundation on top of it. She adorned her face with a “bellend” and a “minky” as you will see from this still.

However, my favourite part of the video is when Gracie draws “Poonique” across her forehead, and then adds the hashtag!

Naturally, people (aka potential customers) on Facebook were seeing this video, and boy were they were laughing. I watch this video now, and I find myself giggling away – back when I was a Butterfly, my first thought was “shiiiiiiiiiit, this is bad publicity, what are we going to do??“

When the video started going viral, it sent the uplines into panic-mode – Green Elite Overlord Tania was straight on the case.

“Now, girls – we need to counteract this #Poonique video. Its complete and utter lies, and we have to show people that we will not let it affect our businesses!”

What was Tania’s (and every other bloody upline’s) plan, to combat the scourge of the #Poonique hashtag?

I’ll let these screenshots do the talking, as they really do say it all.

Firstly, we had to do our utmost to defend the products! It was imperative that we wrote a statement about the shameful, unfair #Poonique video all over our social media accounts!

Like what this Dedicated Hun did, for example. 😉

Secondly, Tania also insisted we did our own counter-videos to show how amaaaaazing the foundation was. My upline Scarlett and fellow “teamie” Kerri did one, but there was no way in hell I wanted to do that shizz.

When the above efforts didn’t seem to be working, the uplines started panicking even more. Tania called an emergency meeting via her Facebook training group.

“Girls, I’ve just had a Zoom call with my own upline and her team. This #Poonique video is making Younique look like a joke. I’m not worried, as the products speak for themselves, but we still have to make an effort to show customers that we will not allow our products to be mocked! I need you all to use the ‘fake it til you make it‘ tactics now…”

By that, Tania wanted us all to post statuses pretending that the #Poonique video had had the opposite effect – instead of denting our sales, it had sent them through the roof! Of course, this was all imaginary and the biggest pile of bullshit to boot, but Tania wanted us to remember:

“There is no such thing as bad publicity. Use the Law of Attraction mindset, girls! If we tell ourselves that this publicity has sent Younique skyrocketing, then it will happen!”

So, with reps across the globe feeding this advice to their downlines, it would explain the abundance of such deluded statuses. We had to emphasise on how Gracie had “done us a favour” and generated a shedload of interest. It was complete bull, but the way these statuses were appearing, you’d think customers were scrambling all over themselves to get hold of this bloody foundation.

I am very interested to find out whether ‘Silly Hun’ got a million sales and joined the #mascaramillionaireclub! After all, I was under the impression that #Poonique was going to launch you “rocketing into cyber space soooo deep“??

Well, the panic about #Poonique spread like wildfire across the hun-lands – so much so, that they lost their originality in the maelstrom. As you can see below, the good ol’ copy/paste jobbies emerged.

I mean, looking back on all this now, have you ever seen such pompous hot air in all your life?

I know that being in MLM turns you into trained robots, where you obediently follow your upline’s orders in desperation for sales, but come on now.

It makes me bloody angry to read this shit. When these women were typing up or copy/pasting these statuses, did they ever stop to question how ridiculous it all was? Were they so scared that Gracie’s video would stop them making sales, that they were prepared to lie? Or, ‘fake it til you make it’, as Tania insisted.

The brainwashed huns will call me a #negferret, #moodhoover and blame my ‘negative mindset’, but I stand by what I say. This company is a load of crap, it brings out the worst in people and encourages them to spout bullshit.

Even though I was a Younique rep at the time, I am glad Gracie’s video went viral – it put an end to the ridiculous plague of Sharpie videos! I feel that #Poonique deserves to be resurrected again, so whenever you mention them on social media, don’t forget this all-important hashtag! Oh, and Gracie – I think you are brilliant!

I hope you have all enjoyed this mini-reflection. Keep posted for more anti-MLM articles, tales from former huns, oh, and James will also be providing his own version of events from my #Poonique days!

If you like what I do and wish to support my anti-MLM mission (and turn my #Poonique story into a detailed novella), please consider becoming myPatreon.

If you have a MLM experience you would like to share, feel free to get in touch. Your anonymity is always guaranteed.

Don’t forget to join the MLM fight on social media – if you’re on Twitter, please give @ElleBeauBlog a follow (and help me get the #Poonique hashtag trending again!). Alternatively, join in the discussion with Elle Beau, the Anti-Blogger on Facebook. I am also on Instagram now – look for @ellebeaublog!

Are you stuck in a MLM and are looking for a way to leave? My friends at Bot Watchhave produced a fantastic guide on how to get out – read it here.

Or, are any of you concerned for a loved one who is totally and utterly wrapped up in MLM? Bot Watch have advice for you on what to do and how to remain supportive – read it here.

For something a little different to pyramid schemes, I would also recommend a look at what Bad Psychics are up to. Award-winning and seen-on-TV, they have worked to expose false claims made by psychics, mediums and the paranormal since 2003.

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Published by Elle Beau

Ah, hello there. My name is Elle Beau, and I am a former Younique (Poonique) presenter.
The aim of this profile will be to anonymously share my experiences of multi-level marketing – something that may create a backlash, outrage, flounces…you name it. However, if my writing can help at least one person from making the mistakes I did, then I’ll be happy with that.
View all posts by Elle Beau

[…] may even recall the Sharpie challenge. Not the one that Elle blogged about recently about the liquid foundation covering up Sharpie. This one was grown women again drawing over their faces in Sharpie but this time using the shine […]

[…] Anyway, I am brush in hand, ready to rock and roll. I opened the bottle and squeezed the pipet to make sure there was no product in there before giving it a good shake. As foundations go, this one smells quite nice, unlike the funky shine wipes. I filled the pipet once more and dropped 6 dots of foundation onto the brush as I had been advised to do. I dotted this around my face and blended. I looked in the mirror and was underwhelmed.I had the same result from using it with and without primer and concealer in all combinations you can think of. 6 dots just didn’t give me full coverage. (I would just like to take a moment to direct you to Elle’s blog and the wonderful post about Sharpie vs. Foundation) […]

I don’t know if you keep on top of comments or how active this blog currently is… but.. active presenter here (hi!) Plodding along for almost 7 months, still yellow, zero recruits. I’ve read from start to finish, can’t say my experience has been anywhere near the same HOWEVER I’ve been having my doubts for a little while and something just doesn’t sit right with me. I’ve been ticking over, mainly by my own purchases but what I will say is I have never, nor have I ever been told to ‘fake it till you make it’, so maybe uplines have changed tack? Anyway, I digress. I’m thinking of getting out but something is holding me back. So I’m going to use your blog as a stepping stone to read some other anti-MLM missives and mull it over some more.
Out of pure curiosity as I wasn’t around when the foundation went completely out of stock… do you remember whether it was around the time this video went viral? I’d be interested to know the timelines and whether Corporate stopped allowing the foundation to be sold until #poonique-gate was over. Just intrigued…

Hello! To the best of my knowledge, I think Gracie Dudley’s viral video came out just before the lack of foundation became an issue…however, I’d have to go really far back in the memory banks to give you a more accurate answer. I hope you find the answers you need – we have plenty of further reading listed at mlmtruth.org. 🙂